


Eye for an Eye

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-09
Updated: 2013-02-09
Packaged: 2017-11-28 16:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/676565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vriska and Terezi are always finding a balance. When one of them is knocked off the scale, bringing equivalence to the world becomes priority. Inspired by Lex Talionis, a piece of fanfiction written by Foodstamp.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eye for an Eye

She was a student in law school; I had a bachelors degree in history and a gambling addiction. To be honest, I still have no idea how the hell she was pulling so far ahead of her classmates when she couldn’t read. She was lucky, I guess, that the accident I had caused had messed with her brain in such a convenient way. As far as I could tell, the only thing that stood in her way was her twisted moral code. Well, that, and the presence of me. 

I’d always been the real problem. Hell, it took us years to figure it out, but I was the one who had wrecked her eyesight. I don’t feel too bad for it though, after all, she was the one who took out my eye and my arm. Things were always even with us.

She would etch that into my skin. We were balanced, she’d point out. I’d always say we were even, or octagonal (twice as square), but she’d insist on babbling legal jargon. 

“Lex Talionis,” she’d whisper in my ear, raking her nails against my back. Usually I’d shove her off and tell her to speak in English or German, something we could both understand, but she never listened. Still, I always gave back the equivalent of what I took, and she’d do the same. One day I found myself muttering the stupid Latin phrase into her mouth. She had grinned against me, keeping the win for a moment, before keeping the balance once more. 

“An eye for an eye,” she had breathed before sucking at my bottom lip. She brought a hand to my face, brushing the hair out of my face. I never knew what kind of instinctual knack she’d developed, but for some reason she could always tell when my hair was blocking the way to my face. It was one of the few things she did gently, tucking the loose strands behind my ear. I would always get pissed for no reason, acting like this treatment was too coddling for my taste.

That shows how different our romance was from most others’. Where they would describe love as being crimson, love that burnt with warmth, ours was the black of water and ash. We’d already burnt ourselves down to something that might have lasted. It didn’t, though.

I would arrive at the apartment come eight o’ clock. It was my number, a solid, known thing. Eight shards of tail light were embedded in my eye socket, eight sided dice were in my pockets, and eight hours past noon was when I returned to the complex. It wasn’t home. We wouldn’t dare call it that. She’d usually be tapping away at something electronic, or designing a more efficient prototype for a noose. That day, however, she wasn’t there. 

I wasn’t worried. She could handle herself; after all, I had red lines running down my back to prove it. Still, she knew where the food was kept, and she enjoyed hiding it from me far too much. I slid the phone from its place in the cradle. 

The phone rang out. Growing irritated, I dialed again, only to be met with her voice mail before the phone could ring. 

“This is the private number of Terezi Pyrope. Please leave a message as I draw up a charge list and defense for you. The beep will signal the beginning of the interrogation.” 

I pushed the end call button with all the ferocity that one could muster while pressing a tiny button. I eyed the door before directing my gaze to the clock. It was eight minutes past eight. That seemed a fortunate time to leave. 

It was thirteen minutes past when I saw the flashing lights that lit the pavement with their patented glow. It only took me a moment to recognize that choppy shock of hair. She had cut it herself, somehow losing that skill she invoked when touching me, and it was impossible to look at without double or triple checking for a family of wildlife that might be inhabiting it. 

It took me four minutes to realize she wasn’t breathing. It took me eight years to find the culprits. Funny that it took me so long to reclaim my lucky number.

In the end, the balance was restored. Lex talionis. A life for a life, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. After all, both my life and hers were taken that night. It was only fitting that I took both of theirs.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Lex Talionis, a piece of fanfiction written by Foodstamp.


End file.
